My 13 year old son recently started puberty and about the same time, unexpectedly and out of the blue came down with a pretty bad case of hives(urticaria). They started on his thighs and then within a day or so, covered his whole body except for his face, neck, hands, and feet.

Being a bit of an analyst in this area, I sat down with him and thoroughly reviewed what he had been eating and drinking over the past few days. We came up with nothing unusual that could have triggered the event including any exposures to possible environmental allergens.

My son has no allergies or sensitivities of any kind and had never had hives or a skin rash before, so I was completely baffled!

Not wanting to resort to any meds, even over the counter diphenhydramine (Benadryl), I consulted a professional who advised that the hives were likely caused by the sudden burst of testosterone and were nothing to worry about long term.

He was to take 1-2 tablets on the tongue and let them dissolve before swallowing taking care to ensure that he had nothing to eat or drink 15 minutes before or after taking them.

This homepathic preparation, a completely natural remedy for hives, worked wonderfully well. He had to take these pills off and on for about a week before the hives gradually faded away on their own.

The hives haven’t come back since so my hope is that using homeopathics instead of short circuiting the immune process with meds like Benadryl allowed him to adjust to his changing hormonal pattern without causing any long term imbalances in any way.

Has your child had hives before? What natural remedy for hives did you use that worked for you?

Comments (96)

Remember to rule out chlorine. If you are showering in it everyday and cooking with it I would stop. I am very allergic to it and so is one of my children. I recently had a friend that just moved from a home with well water to a home with city water. I would rule this out first. Thanks for the posts. Very informative post.

I cured my hives with nutrition. Here’s the story. I got hives from taking birth control. My OB said that was impossible, so I kept taking it while trying to figure out the cause. By the time I realized it was the birth control, I had started taking zyrtec. When I tried to stop the zyrtec, the hives got MUCH worse. I had hives on-and-off for five years (usually during times of stress) until I started drinking a green smoothie every day. I now haven’t had them in over year. I never would have believed it unless I experienced it myself, but green smoothies saved me. The added nutrition apparently helped my brain be able to handle stress, and I had so much more energy. Hope that helps someone!

I don’t have the expertise of many on this site but I do know first hand how annoying and frustrating hives are. I have two remedies that work really well for me.
1. I have a product put out by NuSkin called Clay Pack, Deep Cleansing masque. I don’t use it as a masque but find it very helpful to heal an acne spot when applied lightly and letting it dry…. also camouflages some of the red.
I tried it on hives and found that it took the itch out almost immediately and the hive/hives would be gone in a day or two.
There appears to be a lot of good things in this product but as I said, I don’t have the vast knowledge to know if there is something not so good in it.
It works so well that I haven’t really dug deeper.
2. I learned from a health food tech that Vit. E oil is a natural antihistamine. I also use that on hives or bites of any kind.
When I got stung by something mysterious, my arm and hand were swollen and applying the oil on the bite site brought that swelling down in 24 hours. It also helps to bring down the itch in bites or hives. It takes longer for them to be gone but seems to work really well.

Just my two cents to help any who are suffering the hives or bites.
The Clay pack is less messy but both have advantages.

I developed hives after a couple of detoxifying tablets prescribed by a dentist. The itch was unbearable, and the look was the same as on the photo above. Luckily I always travel with a homeopathic kit, and Urtica urens helped within 10 minutes! I only had to take it twice during the night.

My daughter had severe hives started around 1.5 years old when I stopped breastfeeding her. They were quite extreme covering her entire body and she was also extremely swollen especially around her eyes and her hands and feet. She had a lot of peripheral broken blood blood vessels because of her extreme swelling (looked like varicose veins) in addition. The only suggested treatment was steroids, which I refused to do. After intense research and carefully observing her at recurrent episodes, we noticed that the hives came up when she was coming down with a cold/flu and they were severely intensified by any food she put into her mouth. She was refusing food anyway, but we were pretty much forcing her to eat because I was scared to see her loosing so much weight.
Our immediate treatment was to stop forcing her to eat when she got hives, so after starving for 2-3 days (only drinking water) her hives would go away. We tried several antihistamine medications, none of which helped but rather made her condition much worse.
Our long-term treatment was to follow GAPS diet. I could only really do it for 2-3 weeks strictly, but since then she has daily bone broth (twice a day), biokult probiotics and FCLO. She eats very little processed foods, lots of egg yolks, raw milk…but she also eats white bread from a wonderful bakery. We cannot exclude grains from her diet as she is very picky, but I am happy to say that she is pretty much healed. She rarely gets sick, like 2-3 times in the past 3 years and has had NO HIVES with her colds. She has had a very very mild case of hives when she got pneumonia 2 years ago, but they really were nothing…like maybe 10 hives on her whole body which did not really bother her….so she went from almost dying because of severe hives coming out with every cold to being a strong healthy child because of a natural traditional diet. Once we started the bone broth and probiotics, I could see rapid and visible diminishing of her symptoms, almost in a miraculous way. We tried homeopathic remedies (several formulations) and they did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for her unfortunately…but I am happy this treatment works for others.

A few years back I started getting huge hives all over my body every time I got stressed out (which was often since we were living out several nightmares as a family). I went to see a specialist who recommended two different drugs. Both of them had a warning on the insert that a certain percentage of people died the first time they took this drug so I opted out of both. I started taking L-Lysine 2000 milligrams every time I felt even a twinge of itchiness and continue to do this to do this to this day. I still occasionally get a hive or two on my neck but the L-Lysine stops it in it’s tracks:)

Seriously – why can’t someone just post a link to an online site where one can buy the “Skin” remedy. I’m covered in hives and desperate at this point. I’ve been to the Boiron site, but there is no product called “skin”. Seriously, it is SO ANNOYING that there has been no simple response to this FREQUENTLY asked request. Really.

I will ask as well, is skin the actual name of the homeopathic remedy? Is it like the little pills you dissolve under your tongue that the health food store should have? It seems this question is being ignored and I’m not sure why.

my 12 yr old son has had acute , transient hives for a week now, flares up after 6pm every day, all over except hands, feet and , thankfully, throat. I give him his hay fever tablet daily now which helps immensly but today we forgot and ,wow, this evening hives in all the creases including groin. Before i gave him an oatmeal bath , i noticed his first strong smell of body odour. silly question, could he be allergic to his own testosterone?

I think mothers and everyone in general need to be very careful when it comes to hives. If they are serious, and they can be, it can lead to hospitalization. I am all in regarding treating conditions with natural remedies when possible, but there are times when modern-day meds are life savers. A couple years ago I broke out in a serious, serious case of hives. Had never had them before and never had them since, thank goodness. Have no idea what caused them although an endocrinologist had switched my thryoid meds two days before, that might have had something to do with it. In any case, my entire body exploded with huge angry red welts everywhere. It was agony, I have never been so miserable in my life. My doctor is a holistic doctor, but when he saw me, he immediately said I would need to do the super-strength steroid treatment, 6 pills first day, 5 pills second day, etc. Plus I was taking benadryl and other meds and saw very little improvement. After a week I went back and they had improved but still not gone away. At that point he started acupuncture every other day and they went away after another week. I just have to say that if your child has hives, seriously full blown all over the body, I wouldn’t try to “help” with remedies like honey or herbs, etc. To me that would be cruel, making the child suffer in absolute agony, when there are modern meds that can help alleviate the pain. If anyone had tried telling me to take tea or whatever, instead of these powerful steroids, I would have told them to go you know where, as I probably would have had to go the hospital. I’m just sayin’, in cases of extreme sickness, modern meds do have a place.

About a year ago my son got hives (he was 20 months old at the time), and I used avocado oil on the rash. He had it all over his legs, butt, and belly and I just massaged it in. Within a day it had significantly reduced, and by the end of the second day it was completely gone. Avocado oil is great for inflammation and redness. Raw unprocessed avocado oil would be most effective, but I couldn’t find any at my health food store at the time so we used an organic processed version, and it still worked great.

I have struggled with hives since July and I am going nuts! I have changed my detergent, bath soap, makeup, body lotion and the water temperature in my shower. I stopped eating rice, potatoes and bread to no avail. I began taking herbal medicine in hopes it would detox my system. I’ve used Hydrocortisone, Eucerin, Gold Bond and Aloe Vera, the latter working best. Nothing reduces the outbreaks, only Aloe Vera helps me breathe easy for a few minutes before the burning sensation comes back. I thought it was my birth control since that is the newest thing in my life but going on a week without them and it seems to be worse.
I have been in the ER twice due to my lips, tongue and throat swelling up. It’s really scary. It’s bad enough to fee this burning sensation on my feet, ankles, knees, thighs, stomach, breasts, armpits, neck, scalp and inside my ears to have to worry about suffucating too!
Finally in the last two weeks we’ve come to the conclusion that it might be the water in our apt. When I’ve had hives in my wrists and I do so much as rinse the fingertips, my hives flare up. So we’re looking into getting a filter, but it was not until I read Renee’s message up there that I felt I could filter my shower head. Thank you so much for that, I will research that as well.
On thursday, if I can go five days without any allergy medication, I will undergo the skin test. Here’s hoping I don’t get an adverse reaction.
Thanks for all your wonderful tips.

It probably is your water. Im allergic to ours. Its been going on since last february when we moved in. We have afilter and helps a little but I have to be careful when i go to take a shower bc if i dont test it on my wrist first it sends me right to the er. Throat swelling, hives the size of a baseball etc its tye chemicals in it.

I looked at the Bulk Herb Store and I could not find it either. Maybe you wanted to say Mountain Rose Herbs. I checked there and found Restorative Skin Oil and Powerful Skin Compound. My son has eczema and we are trying GAPS but any products to help him would be great.

I agree about a healthy diet working well for skin, but also it’s important to take care of our skin externally too so that we can ward off some outbreaks or at least lessen the intensity. I have dermagraphic urticaria, excema and just very sensitive skin in general and there’s some things I am adamant about doing because they can help tremendously. First off, I have to be very careful to keep my skin hydrated. Most lotions are irritating to my skin but I’ve found that Eucerin and Vasiline’s intensive care(perfume and dye free) work very well. Immediately upon getting out of the shower I apply the lotion over my entire body. If I don’t, then later on I’m taking my chances of coming into contact with something that will upset my skin, and I’ll get very itchy or break out into hives.
When my skin is dry I’m very susceptible to outbreaks. These can be caused by foods, toxins, clothing or even just sweating from a workout or going from hot to cold without giving my body time to adapt to temperature changes slowly. Winter is the worst time for this. Basically if you have sensitive skin, too much of the wrong thing can cause a reaction.
Another key thing was I realized I was showering TOO much. A shower in the morning before work and then exercising in the evening with a shower afterward, was harming my skin. Pay attention to your teenage sons, they tend to shower more than once a day and they turn the heat of the water way up. These are no-no’s for anyone with sensitive skin. You may not have a reaction in that moment but it’s contributing to the effect a few hours later. If you break down your skins natural defenses then your outbreaks will be more severe and more often.
I’ve found with some preventative steps in place my outbreaks are now very seldom and less severe when they do occur.
Another very important thing to consider is getting a filter for your shower head. Last year I moved into a new home and noticed that by the end of my shower I was getting allergy symptoms and sneezing. Someone told me, oh the steam is breaking up mucus and that’s what is going on. Well then why had it never happened in any other home? No, I knew it must be in the water. My skin was more irritated and my hives were getting worse. I got a shower head filter to filter out the chlorine and it worked immediately. No more sneezing in the shower. Don’t drink tap water without filtering out the chlorine and don’t bathe your skin in it either. Since I stopped washing my face with unfiltered water, I have not had to use lotion on my face. It’s awesome!
So take some precautionary steps to improve your skin’s own defenses so that these outbreaks become less frequent.
Lowering your stress is an obvious helper but easier said than done sometimes, so take note of what else worked for me:
Don’t shower more than once in 24 hours.
Don’t turn the heat way up in the shower.
Put a sensitive skin lotion all over your body immediately upon getting out of the shower. (be careful with some of the ones out there, they may be wrong for you)
Drink enough water.
Filter out the chlorine that’s drying out your skin and aging it.
And do not ingest too much vitamin E. Really. Even though it’s promoted as giving you healthier skin, I’ve seen some recent studies that taking the high doses is now shown to be harmful.
And if you go from hot to cold, do it gradually so your skin can adapt. Wearing lotion helps with the cold wind blowing hard on your skin. Don’t let it dry out. Hydrate your skin, It’s a great barrier.
These things work wonders for me!

A healing crisis it is. I was able to see my ND today and we have a plan in place. Just so wild that your body can react that badly. Just confirms that the gaps diet was needed!!! My ND suspects it was a huge reaction to the huge die off!

I don’t see where to find “Skin” or what it is…couldn’t find anything helpful about it on the web. Can you please help?! Several people have asked and it seems like their pleas for help are being ignored. It’s no good to know that “Skin” helps if you can’t figure out what it is or how to get it…

Does anyone know if hives are a side effect of being on the GAPS diet? Not finding enough info. Ive been on gaps about 3 months and just got my first case of hives ever and it’s a biggie! Had to resort to meds! That does not make me very happy. Any info would be awesome!!!

This is really interesting. I regularly use homeopathics from a homeopath when needed. However, I am wondering why you would treat the skin and not a hormone balancing remedy. Obviously, puberty is normal…but to the point of an all over body skin hives…. not too sure. I would think that treating the skin is like treating just the symptom and not the real problem.

It was from the sudden burst of testosterone that the body had not experienced before. He has since adjusted and been fine. If it continued to recur, that would have indicated a persistent imbalance. He has obviously adjusted fine. It could have also been brought on by the physical stress of starting puberty also which is a huge change physiologically.

I developed a raging case of hives in my 20s about 2 weeks before I left for full-time University. It was my big move away from home and I had to leave a job in the corporate world to attend. I was so nervous about the University, quitting my job, leaving friends and family behind, etc. that the hives popped up and destroyed my skin from head to toe! I went to see the doctor but they said there was no way for them to identify the cause of the hives without further testing. So I rode it through and within 10 days, it had cleared completely. But it was itchy non-stop!!!!

By “at night” I’m assuming it is happening in bed.? What are you washing your sheets with? You could be sensitive or allergic to something in the bedding that others are fine with. The sheets? The blanket? I can not use Tide to wash anything because it makes me itch. I use Cheer and have no problems. Also I double rinse my sheets when I wash them. Also wearing lotion on my skin helps protect it from whatever touches it.
If it’s in the pillow, you may need to change out your pillow. They can collect dust and dust mites. New pillow and new cover. Look all around your bed and see what you may be sensitive too.

1. Drink a Detoxifying Tea that contains calendula, chamomile, dandelion leaf and root, nettles, plantain and red clover. This will help your body’s normal channels of elimination such as the kidneys, liver and lymph glands.

2. Take a Bath. Soak in the bathtub with a couple of handfuls of oatmeal tied into a washcloth. Afterwards, pat your face and back with the mucilage that comes out of the cloth on the skin. You can also bathe with a pound of alkalinizing baking soda.

3. After the Bath. Apply cooled chamomile tea or aloe vera with clean fingers or a soft cloth. It acts as an anti-inflammatory.

4. Skip spicy foods and eat a more bland diet that includes celery, cucumbers, kale and other green leafy veggies. It will make your body more alkaline than acidic. The body functions better this way.

5. Get Tested for Common Allergies such as citrus fruit, strawberries, mangoes, tomatoes, shellfish, nuts and chocolate.

I had a few random cases of hives this year. I have never had any known allergies, but three months in a row, at the beginning of my period, I broke out into hives. The red, raised skin and burning itch basically wandered around my body for several days. So I definitely agree that hormones can be a cause of hives for some cases! Like many have already posted, I took Benadryl and Prednisone immediately (which I didn’t think helped). But my body probably just needed to work things out naturally. It would have been nice to have a homeopathic remedy to either stop the hives or ease the itchiness and pain as my body dealt with them! And it has been a few months since I’ve had hives, but each time my period approaches, I get worried that I will suffer from them again.

I used to get hives VERY frequently as a child, and it was always after a big temper tantrum. Recently I got a small case of hives (after 20 years of not dealing with it) shortly after a heated discussion with my husband. So I believe that hives can be quite linked to sudently increased hormones for some people like myself and thought it was neat to see that confirmed here.

Mine was never so severe that I had to treat it. It would wander around my body for a day or even a half-day then go away.

Hi Sarah,
Is there any chance Skin would work for eczema. I have battled this for over 10 years now. Right now I am on the GAPS diet, it helps some but at times gets worse. I have only been doing this for 19 days so I am thinking it will take time……But how long will this go on? You said your husband had eczema and after GAPS he doesn’t have it any more. How long did it take. I am so tired of it, but shouldn’t whine, others have had to deal with it a lot longer.
Terri

My 2 year old son also got a very bad case of hives on his hiney after I used some dry max diapers someone gave us… it looked almost like a chemical burn and would be so blistered it would bleed… he has NEVER had that problem before. The only thing that worked was aloe gel. But thank goodness we dont have to worry about that anymore, now that he’s potty trained

I had hives when I was younger, and continued to have them through college.

When I was younger, I was told to use OTC ointments. When they gave me no relief I was taken to the doc who prescribed a tapered series of corticosteroids as treatment. They were horrible. I lost my appetite, my attention span, and felt tense.

The hives seemed to return every year when the days got hotter in early summer.

So later on when I was in college and was no longer on my parent’s health plan, I opted to visit an acupuncturist because it was more affordable and I didn’t want to deal with steroids. Her treatment was amazing. She knew just by looking at my ears which side of my body the hives were concentrated on. She used not only needles as treatment, but practiced ear bleeding (not nearly as invasive or uncomfortable as it sounds), gave me a menthol-based topical cream, and advised me on which foods to avoid. The hives resolved so much faster with this treatment, and it was much more comfortable. And of course I was not subjecting myself to the dangers of steroids.

The hives would have gone away on their own anyhow after a week. There is no evidence here that this remedy you mention did a thing. This was a case of his own body doing its job not anything helping it.

The homeopathics relieved the itching and swelling within minutes so that he could deal with it until the body found a way to rebalance on its own. I find it amusing that people are so negative about non-drug remedies all the time.

I have a son that gets random hives. We’ve never been able to figure it out. What seems to work well with him are epsom salt/baking soda baths a fews times a day. Usually within 24 hours the hives are gone. The baths help with the itchiness. I’m curious about the cold hives. I know he sometimes gets them coming from the pool. I”m going to keep an eye out for them this winter and try to track what he is doing and what time of year they come on. It is very random. What also helps him is a salve I make with lots of great herbs infused in the oil. You can see it on my web site http://www.blossomsbarn.com . We use it for many things, and that, too helps with my son’s hives. But I would have him immediately jump in the tub with the salts and a dash of peppermint EO.

I, too, believe in letting the body work it out. I’m interested in making him comfortable during the espisode. There was one time when this went on for a week and it was affecting one part of his body at a time (this was before we discovered the salt baths helped a lot), and it was working its way around his system. Say it would start on a left foot for one day, the next day it would be up the same leg, then the torso, then teh arm on the left side and then swithch sides. When it made it to the head and throat I got a little whigged out so we went to the ER and he was adminestered steroids. Scared me when it got to the throat. I hated having to do that, but didn’t know what to do.

Thanks for posting about this!
It is a really hard thing to find helpful info on online! And you usually need HELP immediately with hives!
My 17yr old daughter gets hives occasionally when exposed to cold and wet–and also sometimes when she is feeling sick (common cold/flu)—–The last time it happened we were really wanting to avoid using any ‘drugs,’ and instead tried (Swanson Premium Brand) Super Cayenne (100,000 HU)— she took 2 capsules and within minutes the hives were completely gone!
(When we used ‘Benadryl’ it would only partially help, reducing the itching, but not totally relieving the hives themselves, and that was scary to me! I thought, “What awful kind of drug do we have to use to completely stop them??”)
With Super Cayenne, if, a few hours later, she feels them start to come again, she just takes 2 more capsules and the swelling and itching is completely gone in a few minutes! She carries them in her purse, now, and it gives her confidence that even if she is away from home when they occur, she can help her body correct itself. We are so thrilled to find a natural supplement that works so well for us! Give it a try!

It’s important to remember that our skin is part of the excretory system, and rashes/hives are often our body’s way of getting rid of something. I didn’t know about Skin, but I very much like the idea of supporting the body through the process, rather than just dealing with the immediate inconveniences.

yes, I do agree it is often because of something internal that our body is dealing with. But also many times it’s something external that we come into contact with that we’re sensitive too. Certain detergents, dyes, perfumes, clothing processed in a certain way. And even chlorine in our water or pools. So if it’s an external cause then we need to alleviate the symptoms and figure out how we’re taking care of our skin, externally as well. No amount of letting our body go through the process will help if you’re sensitive to chlorine for one example. We can limit our exposure, but try telling a kid, they’re not allowed in the pool. Instead have some treatment available so when they are done swimming, you know what to do.

Yikes , hives on my daughter drove me insane for six months (as well as her). She was in grade 7 and just before christmas they started. I removed anything sugary and processed from her diet to start, which was not much.

What we found was that on the weekends they were better and later on in the week they would get worse. After spending countless hours researching on dial up during the 90’s I came to the conclusion that it coincided with her starting her period and mold. The estrogen surge would potentially make her predisposed and the fact that she was in a portable full of mold made it worse during the course of the week. Once school finished she only would get them if she went into damp wooded areas. She is now 24 and has not had them for years as the mold environment is long resolved and her hormones have stabilized naturally. I did give her homeopathic Apis which would make them disappear within ten minutes.

I have chronic hives. It came during puberty, age 12. I had it for two years and had to take antihistamines daily. Eventually it seemed like I grew out of it, but it came back for 1-2 years here and there. I seem to have dormant periods and active periods. I’m almost 40 now, and I’ve had hives daily for the last 6 years with brief exceptions of time during pregnancy. I’ve grown immune to most antihistamines, but Xyzal works right now. I will try “Skin” if I can find it. My doctor recommends that I eliminate all processed foods from my diet (no sugar, eat all organic, etc.) and to detox. This method has worked for one of her patients. My level of hives is considered an autoimmune disease and now it’s progressed to my thyroid. We’ll see if changing eating habits works or not. Luckily most people’s hives are just an allergic reaction, but for some of us, that’s not the case.

It may benefit you to look into having your hormone levels tested, especially since you noticed a decrease in the hives during pregnancy, when progesterone levels are at their highest. You may be low in progesterone, a hormone which begins to decrease in many women as soon as, if not earlier, our early 30’s. I am 41 and had also experienced skin conditions, mostly on my face, for years and recently discovered my progesterone levels were very low. Since using an over the counter, natural, wild yam based progesterone cream, the skin issues are virtually non-existent as well as a host of other more minor conditions that I would never have realized were due to low progesterone.

Well, my 2 1/2 yr old son, broke out in hives just this last week or so. I could find no reason for it. We gave him some raw honey and they immediately began to clear up and by the next day were virtually gone, and the third day completely gone. I also use it when I’m having allergic reaction to cats or other mild allergic reactions with success.

Hives is something we treat frequently in our clinic.
The reasons for an outbreak can vary person to person, although winter weather seems to bring in the most cases. Acupuncture can help immediately with the itching and help speed up recovery, but in my clinical experience Chinese herbal medicine, used internally or as a soak/bath works the best.
The previous poster is right though… 50% seem to resolve on it their own.
Sincerely,
Ben

We’ve treated hives topically before with a mix of coconut oil, lavendar, silver, and MSM. Works wonderfully! We’ve used this to treat bee stings, bug bites, diaper rash, we keep it mixed up continually.

My 15 month old son broke out in hives last month. I concluded that they were an allergic reaction to some diapers I had been using that someone gave me. The diapers had dry max in them. When I took him to the doctor’s, at first glance that thought it was chicken pox. I applied aloe to his skin. He wasn’t itchy, so I’m thankful for that. The hives gradually went away over a week.

Sarah,
First I want to say that I love, love, love your site. Thank you!
Second when I see changes in my or my families skin we do a liver tincture cleanse for about four to six weeks (sometimes longer). Great stuff and it works :o)

Hi,
my son has had “skin” (peau, in French, if there are any other French speakers out there!) for his eczema.
We can get 30 phials from the chemist for about 5â‚¬, from Boiron (homepathic manufacturer).
I think liquids are meant to be even more effective for homeopathy (something to do with the energy, I’m quoting Michel Dogna here, love his books!)
Helen

I eat extremely well, and I don’t have any severe allergies, but I will sometimes get hives if I am very stressed out, like if I have a difficult exam comming up. I just do yoga, and drink lots of hot tea (lemongrass fresh from one’s herb garden is best, and is especially delicious with a bit of fresh mint added!). This really helps them to go away quickly, and stops them from comming back.

We have a child with life threatening multiple food allergies and we need to be very careful what goes on her skin. I took her to the allergist this past year because of hives that would just start to take over her body even though we are super careful of what she eats and touches. It turned out to be cold urticaria. If her skin is cold or she gets wet and the water is cold, she will break out in horrible hives and be in pain. It makes bath time very difficult for our 4 1/2 year old. Benadryl and other antihistamines don’t work (we’ve tried on many occasions) for this type of urticaria. As long as we keep her warm her breakouts are now minimal.

I have the same problem. It didn’t start until I used a new lotion and never went away. Whenever I went swimming I would break out from head to toe and itch. If I was in cold water or even stuck my arm in the washing machine I would swell up. The doctor said I was allergic to water and that my swelling was an anaphylactic reaction to cold and that I shouldn’t go out on the ice in the winter. If I were to fall through I would die from shock before I ever developed hypothermia.

I make sure I dry off really well right away and stay warm, just like you do for your daughter.

My daughter developed cold urtircaria after we moved from Texas to Oregon. She had NEVER had the problem before. However, 10 hours into our road trip to get here, we rolled our van and totaled it….so we know she suffered some stress. So, this is brought on by stress? Recently, on a Missions trip to Mexico while traveling thru California, they all stopped at the beach. She suited up in a wetsuit to have some fun, but almost ended up dead. Her throat swelled up from the wet cold and she almost couldn’t breathe. Now, she takes antihistamines regularly to avoid this problem. I’d love to find a natural remedy. But, I cannot risk having her unable to breathe again.

I had something very similar happen to me about 7 years ago (I am an adult, female.) I was baffled and could not think of a food that had caused this. My hives also came with a lot of swelling. At that time I was not knowledgeable about anything health related, and had sprayed myself with bug spray. I remember breathing in the fumes and getting all chocked up, the hives and swelling followed the next day. I am now positive that the bug spray was the cause. Is it possible your son was near someone who had applied some sort of bug spray or sun screen? My guess is probably not, but I thought I would mention this since my skin looked just like his did in the picture. Wishing your son and his skin a clean and full recovery! =)

What a timely post! My 3 year old just yesterday had a terrible outbreak of what I believe are hives (his skin looked a bit different than the picture not as much redness but raised and itchy), and I am still not clear as to what triggered it. They seem to have gone away for now, we only treated the skin with an anti-itch cream so he could fall sleep. Very curious to see what works for others. THANK YOU!!

Hubby developed hives in college, wherever clothes touched him. We nearly lost our minds trying to figure it out, but he seemed to “outgrow” it eventually. I had not studied herbals, nutrition or homeopathy at that point, and he was on some pretty “big gun” mess for a while. They didn’t help. Can you give me some sources for your anti-diphenhydramine research? We still resort to that occasionally for our very allergic youngest.

Hal just got over a terrible case of hives and we tried every internal/external remedy on every website: castor oil, coconut oil, vinegar, magnesium, mag oil, epsom salt baths… except Skin. I don’t think homeopathically yet. Well, nothing else worked. He took Benadryl once and that helped with the worst day of itching.

We also could not figure it out except that he’d taken extra niacin for a few days in a row for another issue and maybe that brought up some toxin sitting around. Every mainstream med site said rashes are not serious, nothing to do but wait ‘em out. A rash is an odd thing.